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In Jan 2011, Android and iOS stood head to head in terms of smart phone devices in the US (approximately 25 percent each). But today, Android beats iOS by a wide margin, commanding 46 percent device share to Apple's 35 percent.

And yes, as I talk with clients about their mobile app business plans and marketing activities, it feels like the statistics are flipped...which totally confuses me! We'll be following up this blog post with some ideas on how to get started with Android and what to consider. But for now, here's some more data about the Android opportunity to arm yourself with!

1. Ad Impression Share
It isn't only device share where Android leads iOS. According to inMobi, Millennial Media and Jumptap, (three leading mobile ad networks), Android also beats iOS in terms of ad impressions. On average, we estimate that Android commands 33% percent share of impressions, compared to only 21 percent on iOS.

2. Cost EffectivenessAd spend and cost effectiveness is a much more tricky thing to figure out. However, starting with data that is publicly available, Millennial Media has reported that 49 percent of spend goes through the Android platform (for 54 percent of impressions), compared to 41 percent of spend on iOS (for 28 percent of impressions), suggesting that impressions on Android are at least 40 percent cheaper than iOS. That said, every app marketer knows impressions are only the tip of the iceberg—clicks, conversations and loyal usage matter more. At Fiksu, we find that the balance between using these Android and iOS metrics varies considerably, depending on the quality of an app. But all else being equal, Android is better value than iOS.